Harfenburg

En un regard

Le château en bref

On a spur of the Schloßbuckel, 315 m above sea level over the Laxbach valley, the remains of the Harfenburg overlook Heddesbach, in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. Together with Hundheim Castle, it is regarded as the oldest castle complex in the southern Odenwald. Probably built in the 12th century, it was the ancestral seat of the lords of Harfenberg, among whom Bligger von Harpfenberg is recorded in 1200, a lineage probably related to the Landschad of Steinach. Around 1300 the castle passed to the Palatinate, which pledged it in 1314 to the lords of Hirschhorn; in 1340 the Count Palatine ordered Engelhard von Hirschhorn to repair "great damage" there. From the 15th century onwards it is mentioned only as a place name. The site, covering about 6,900 m², still reveals a wooded core of 34 × 24 m with the rubble mound of a probable round keep, a circular ditch, two neck ditches and an almost square outer bailey. The harp on the coat of arms of Heddesbach today recalls this former family.